Chumash Themes #10: The Ten Plagues

Unique lessons for Egyptians and Jews.

The Ten Plagues are perhaps the most recognizable facet of the Exodus. Why plagues? The simple understanding is that they were necessary to convince the Egyptians to free the Jews. However, if that was the only purpose, then one overwhelming calamity should have been enough. Therefore, there is obviously a lesson to be learned from the progression of the plagues. And this lesson has a double message, both for the Egyptians, and for the Jews as observers.

What is the lesson for the Egyptians?

What is the lesson for the Jews?

What is the lesson plan that requires specifically ten plagues?

What is unique about these ten plagues?

Bringing Monotheism to the World

In order to answer these questions we need to clarify the belief system of the world at that time.

Monotheistic morality was introduced to the world by Abraham and his descendants. Abraham tried to disseminate this concept to the world, but during this period civilization was awash with idols – with Egypt at the center. Thus when the Jews descended into Egyptian exile, they were enveloped by this idolatrous culture.

In an idolatrous world, each force of nature has its own god, and each god is a separate disparate force. The gods quarrel and fight, and man is abandoned to the caprices and jealousies of these petty figures. Therefore there is no sense of justice or mercy, since each god has its own agenda. The idea of a monotheistic God controlling all the forces of nature, while at the same time balancing and treating man with justice and mercy, had not gained currency in Egyptian society.

The lesson for the Egyptians was to know God. The Bible repeats five times that the plagues are being done “in order” that the Egyptians should know that God is Master of the entire world.1

Lesson for the Jews

On the other hand the prophet Isaiah says, “God smote the Egyptians, a plague and a cure.”2 In other words, the plagues were a punishment for the Egyptians, but for the Jews they were a cure. For what spiritual malady did the Jews need a cure?

This disease was assimilation. This was not cultural assimilation, but the slow disconnection from the ideals of Abraham. The Jews at the time, even though they had remained a distinct nationality (i.e. they had not intermarried with the Egyptians), they had nevertheless begun to worship Egyptian idols. To correct this, it was not sufficient to demonstrate God’s mastery in a general sense, but it needed to be detailed and specific. The Ten Plagues, in their orderly progression, show God’s power over all aspects of nature.

But why do we need ten, and specifically these ten plagues, to cure the Jewish people from their practice of idolatry?

From Creation to Revelation

The Talmud3 teaches us of a series of ‘tens’:

Ten Utterances of God to create the world

Ten generations from Adam to Noah

Ten generations from Noah to Abraham

Ten Plagues

Ten Commandments

In kabbalistic thought, the number ten is represented by the Ten Sefirot.4 These are the then emanations of God’s presence in this world. The Talmud5 expands on this idea.

Why was the world created with ten utterances rather than one? In order to punish transgressors and reward the righteous.

What is the connection between the number of utterances, and reward and punishment?

If God would have created the world with one utterance, then His connection to the world would have been so direct and clear that there would be no space for our free will. In a world so directly connected to God, there is no space to choose. Since the purpose of creation is to allow man to choose to serve God, there needs to be veils that shroud His presence, and allow a person the option of choosing to believe in God, or not.

Therefore, instead of “direct creation,” there is a series of ten emanations that create a distance and mask the presence of God. Just as the distance from Earth to the sun is balanced exactly between the warmth needed to sustain life, but far enough that we are not incinerated, so too is God’s presence balanced in the world. God is close enough to be found by those who seek, but veiled enough so that those who choose to can ignore Him.

The number ten gives the precise balance needed.

Ten Generations

It is axiomatic that a person’s actions are not just personal, but impact the entire balance of the world.6 Positive actions reveal more of God’s presence, and negative ones conceal it. When the ten generations from Adam till Noah sinned, the balance between God’s “revelation” and “distance” was irrevocably damaged. Even if one would try, the path to revelation of God’s presence was blocked. Therefore, a new start was needed: the great Flood erased the past, to recreate the balance anew.

After the Flood, Noah began to rebuild the world. However, the ten generations from Noah to Abraham again failed, causing the same lack of equilibrium. In actuality, the world then should have gone through another cycle of destruction and rebuilding. But instead, Abraham, through his spiritual clarity and determination, was able to rebalance the world. Further, Abraham began the process of creating a stable core of humanity – the Jewish people – whose national mission would be to always see the hand of God.

When the Jews descended into Egypt and began to worship idols, the process of imbalance resumed. That special cadre was beginning to lose their mission. To reconnect the Jewish people back to God called for a revelation of how the physical world mirrors God’s Ten Utterances of creation. The Ten Plagues revealed this truth, and succeeded in bringing the Jews to a rediscovery of these ideas.

The Ten Forces of Nature

To fully understand this, let’s examine the correlation between the Ten Utterances of creation and the Ten Plagues. The order between the plagues and creation is inverse: Since creation went from the closest connection to God to the most distant, the plagues had to go in the opposite direction to reconnect us back.

PLAGUES

CREATION

1. Blood

10. Sustenance

2. Frogs

9. Man

3. Lice

8. Animals

4. Wild Beasts

7. Birds, Fish and Insects

5. Plague

6. Sun and Moon

6. Boils

5. Vegetation

7. Hail

4. Continents

8. Locusts

3. Creating the Heaven

9. Darkness

2. Let there be Light

10. Death of the First Born

1. In the beginning

To show the exact correlation between all ten is beyond the reach of this article.7 Here are a few examples:

The next-to-last plague was darkness. Equivalent to this was the creation of light.

The final plague was the death of the First Born. It was a unique plague in that G-d did not just show control of “nature,” but supernaturally distinguished who was specifically a first born. This was recognition that God created the beginning, correlating to the first words of the Torah, “In the beginning.”

Therefore, the plagues were not only to punish the Egyptians, but to clarify to the entire world – especially to the Jewish people – the connection between God and His world. Indeed, that remains our challenge even today, every year when we sit with our family at the Seder, and even every day: to use the manifestation of God’s hand through history and nature to peel back the layers of concealment and gain awareness of God.

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

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